Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Former psychiatric patients
and social welfare children taking cases against the Crown over alleged abuse
have accused the Government of discrimination. When news broke of
allegations by army cadets that they suffered abuse between the 1950s and
1980s, Defence Minister Mark Burton immediately promised an independent
investigation, one of the groups' lawyers, Sonja Cooper, said. Her clients are angry
that the independent inquiries they asked for have not been ordered and say
the Government will not help them because many are still in psychiatric care
or in prison. It has been more than
two years since The Dominion Post revealed the allegations that child
patients at Porirua Hospital were subjected to sexual and physical abuse,
over medication and use of electroconvulsive shock therapy as a punishment
during the 1960s and 1970s. Almost 12 months ago the paper highlighted cases
of former state wards who claim they were physically and sexually abused
while in Social Welfare homes during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. There are now
more than 300 people involved in the psychiatric hospital claims and about
220 in the social welfare case. Crown Law has been
asked to investigate each claim in the psychiatric hospitals case. There has
been no response from Government over the social welfare home claims. A spokeswoman for
Attorney-General Margaret Wilson said it was not a case of discrimination.
"There are differences between the two sets of claims and investigations
into them have to be tailored accordingly." |